Wednesday, 6 April 2016

Baldur's GateEnhanced EditionSiege of Dragonspear Walkthrough Guide Cheats Part I

Hi there! - my name's Lilura and welcome to my Siege of Dragonspear walkthrough guide. The following posts will endeavor to cover Beamdog's Siege of Dragonspear expansion in its entirety and as I have played it: on Core Rules difficulty and with the party I previously took through the main campaign of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. This interquel expansion takes place a few weeks after Sarevok's demise and treats the period of time between Baldur's Gate & Shadows of Amn.

Update(July 23, 2016): This walkthrough has been completed in sixteen parts. Enjoy! Be sure to check out my in-depth retrospectives, walkthroughs and miscellaneous guides on the original versions of Baldur's Gate, too. Pertinent guides include Best Classes, Best Weapons and Best Spells.

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Be sure to check out the comments section at the end of each post: there is lots of input from readers who have posted insights, clarifications and interesting tidbits (241 comments as of Feb 2017). Thanks for your contribution to the comment stream!

Very well written. Looks like you found all of my infravision and random encounter zones but still missed a couple of the harder Spectacles of Spectacle fights.BTW, you seem to be an experienced tactical player, so I was a bit surprised that you didn't play SoD on Insane with the extra damage modifiers turned off. That would have given you the hardest combat encounters and the best AI without granting enemies any unfair advantages. As an example, during the final battle [huge spoiler, do NOT click-drag]:Belhifet casts Dispel Magic on the party at the start, just like he does in IWD and has more powerful allies. - aVENGER of Beamdog.

My reasons for writing the walkthrough on Core rules are twofold; first, it's how I've always played D&D RPGs; and second, it's a walkthrough for new players to Siege that seeks to present the campaign on a common ground, which I'd like to think Core rules is.

—You may search the posts for keywords using Ctrl +F in your browser. You may also use my Looking for something? search bar (embedded in left sidebar) to search multiple posts; indeed, the whole blog.

—The posts include pics to illustrate coverage, including maps of the areas. The pics have been edited and upscaled to improve viewability on current gen displays. If
your add-on/extension does not block the script, clicking a pic will
enter Light Box mode, allowing you to mouse-wheel through them, at
your leisure.

—The text is color-coded and varied in size for readability and clarity. Purple text highlights an item that is either important, flavorsome (to the lore/story) or useful, Red text highlights an enemy, Blue companions and Green quest names.

—While this series of posts is first and foremost a walkthrough, I probably won't be able to resist praising or blaming Beamdog at certain points, where I deem it appropriate and constructive. This first post probably won't blow anyone's hair back because it covers the Interlude, a portion of the game which is necessarily "tutorialish" in tone and designed to ease the newbies into the expansion; but things definitely shift up a gear once Chapter Seven commences, as I expected they would.

—Affiliation: None. I am in no way affiliated with Beamdog, BioWare, Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro. This is an independent effort by someone who has been a fan of the Infinity Engine RPGs since their inception.

—This is a blind play. That means this walkthrough is written on my first time playing Siege of Dragonspear. At the risk of putting bells on myself, I believe I'm qualified to write a fairly authoritative (though by no means official) walkthrough, as I have written plenty in the past, possess intimate knowledge of the Infinity Engine and its preceding titles, and have a firm grasp of the English language. That said, I'm likely to make errors and omissions so I welcome input by readers and don't mind if you jump down my throat because I stuffed up, missed something or the point of something.

Notes on the Campaign

—Please note that I don't consider Siege of Dragonspear to be canon. For me, this is non-canon and a monetized mod. That isn't to say that I deem it to be worthless garbage. There IS merit herein. However, I would have made something completely separate from The Ward's story.

—Many aspects of this campaign draw heavily from the Icewind Dale series, as should stand out to anyone who has played Black Isle's two epics. From Siege's encounter and dungeon design to its linearity and a few of its quests and characters; it's blatantly obvious. Even some of the sprites and sound effects have been ripped from IWD and IWD2! That is not to say that Siege is completely unoriginal; far from it: some of its reactivity, its scripted waylays and its itemization are quite unique, indeed. This is all thanks to aVENGER.

—The experience point cap (XP cap) has been increased from 161,000 (BG:EE) to 500,000 for Siege of Dragonspear, meaning that Fighters, Barbarians, Monks & Clerics can expect to
reach tenth level, Paladins & Rangers ninth, Thieves, Bards &
Druids twelfth and Mages, Sorcerers & Shaman eleventh. Wait, Shaman? That's an entirely new class introduced by Siege: a "Druid-Sorcerer" with a few tricks up its sleeve. Try it out and see if you like it. Anyway, this XP cap means that all classes should gain 1-2 levels over the course of the campaign. That obviously isn't a whole lot but power progression is more dramatic when you consider Siege's itemization, as detailed in this guide and here.

First and Final Spoiler Warning

The User Interface (UI)

The UI has received a major overhaul and modernization for Siege of Dragonspear,
and I'm currently getting to grips with the changes that Beamdog have made. I have played the original Baldur's Gate, on and off, since its release in 1998; ergo, it takes time for me to adjust. I don't like THE LAG and I don't like how they replaced the unfurling scroll tooltips with flat, grey panel ones. I also don't like the Sprite Outlines and the inexplicable reversal of cancel/confirm, but I'm not overly flustered by the other changes to aesthetics and functionality; certainly not to the point of entering into a shitstorm like some people out there. Besides, the dragon scale reskin is pretty cool and some of the UI additions are welcome; f.e, the Reveal Details button and the quick weapon switching.

Below: Profound changes to the Inventory & Character Record modes. For in-depth treatment of the original Infinity Engine User Interface, please refer to the first two parts of User Interface Evolution.

• Help! I can't see anything on my playing field because of all this white fog. Someone make it stop! Ok, to disable the fog you must disable Weather in Options → Gameplay. Yes, it disables ALL weather. I didn't care, though. I just wanted the fog gone.

• Help! The sprite outlines are disgusting! How do I get rid of them? Uncheck Sprite Outlines in Options → Graphics.

• Oh god. The inventory LAGS. I have played BG since it came out in 1998, and on lots of different PCs in that time. The user interface NEVER lagged; at least, not like this. It's now 2016 and there is LAG? What can I do? Nothing, but it's on Beamdog's to-do list.

• Why is combat and movement so slow? Change the 30 to a 60 in this line of baldur.lua:
SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Maximum Frame Rate','30')

• Dialogue can be very quickly skipped through by hitting a combo of the Esc-key and 1-key. 95% of scripted and FMV cutscenes may be skipped with the Esc-key, too. This feature is very welcome for replaying the campaign.

• Are there going to be future patches and updates for Siege? Yes! The latest patch was released in the Summer of 2016 (v.2.3.67). The upcoming 2.5 patch will apparently address Mizhena and a few other things, too. But there is no ETA at this point.

The Console & Cheats

The Siege of Dragonspear console is a lil' different to the ones found in other IE RPGs.

To activate the console navigate to your Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition folder, open baldur.lua, and add this line in the Program Options section:

SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Debug Mode','1')

(Save the file.)

Ctrl+Space will call up console mode in-game, into which field you may type (or copy-paste) various commands; for example: C:ExploreArea(), C:SetCurrentXP("x"), C:AddGold("x"), C:CreateItem("x") etc. See also: original campaign Item Code List.

Ok, upon defeating Sarevok in the Temple of Bhaal you will transition directly to the Siege of Dragonspear
for an Interlude that takes place between Chapter Six and Seven. You
may
also import a save-game or start afresh with a new Charname. Starting
afresh means you begin at sixth level and receive appropriate equipment
for your class and a decent amount of gold. You will also receive a party based on your alignment and
your companions will be suitably equipped for the adventure. This is
obviously a sub-optimal way of going about things, but it's
entirely up to you.

So let's begin at the beginning - it's a good place to start!

INTRODUCTION

Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resist. - Plutarch.

Only
weeks ago the malevolent Sarevok brought the city of Baldur's
Gate to the edge of destruction. You, like him, are a child
of Bhaal: the dead God of Murder. Bhaal foresaw his own
death and sired mortal children in an effort to bring about
his return. Sarevok intended to become the new Lord of Murder.
You put an end to Sarevok's plans and slew your
half-brother. With his passing you became known as the hero of
Baldur's Gate.

Now,
a new threat casts a shadow over the city: a massive army
on a holy crusade has thrown the Sword Coast into turmoil.
Little is known of the crusader's leader, the charismatic
warrior Caelar Argent. Those who follow her revere her as the
Shining Lady but her background and goals are shrouded in
mystery. Some say she is divine: a hero sent by the gods to
crush evil no matter the cost; others whisper that she is
another spawn of Bhaal intent on following the same path as
Sarevok. One thing above all else is clear: if the Sword
Coast is to find any measure of peace, Caelar Argent must be
stopped.

Some sweet artwork, right here.

.
Note the narration: Kevin Michael Richardson - the voice actor who narrated the original campaign, voiced Sarevok in the Bhaalspawn Saga, and is perhaps most famous for a single line (YOU MUST GATHER YOUR PARTY BEFORE VENTURING FORTH) - has reprised his role for Siege of Dragonspear. Beamdog have done well to hire KMR (and other actors) for their respective role reprisals, as their voices are hugely nostalgic and give an air of authenticity to the expansion.

INTERLUDE

House of the Dead (Korlasz Family Tomb

(AR BD0120)

A scripted cutscene shows two followers of Sarevok lamenting his demise and their current predicament: they are being hunted down by the
Flaming Fist authorities and have put all their faith in Korlasz, a female
wizard who is the only capable follower of Sarevok remaining. Suddenly,
the two followers hear a sound and hurry off to report it to Korlasz.

The sound they heard was that of the heroic party dropping
down a rope to arrive in what appears to be a series of tombs: The House of the Dead.

Beamdog should have blocked the interaction cursor to the rope because some players may think to climb it (they used the "manipulate" cursor instead of the "block" one). You can't climb out until you have dealt with Korlasz, but that is not made clear.

Anyway, the party is accompanied by the loveable Imoen, a childhood friend of Charname, who is
leading a contingent of the Flaming Fist, a "back-up party" (of sorts)
that is scripted to tail the PC at intervals and offer assistance; i.e,
pitching in during battle, occasionally healing the party, and
explaining the most basic tenets of lore, like: WOT IS UNDEAD, WOT TYPES R DERE AND HOW DO U KEEL DEM? Newbies should remember to talk to Imoen at intervals for various flavor dialogues and tips.

The
object of this segment is to explore the undead-infested catacombs and
track down Korlasz, slaying any straggling Sarevok followers along the
way. (Quest: Important Events - Find Korlasz and deal with her).

Getting Ready!

At
this point I suggest you ensure your party is equipped appropriately
and that you have relevant spells memorized and ready to cast: AoE
disablers and debuffers such as Web and Slow; direct damage AoEs such as Skull Trap and Sunfire;
and stock-standard buffs and cures that keep you on your feet and
fighting during the longer combat encounters. Self-buff with Mirror Image and Stoneskin to mitigate damage entirely.

Remember to scout ahead of the party using conventional stealth or Invisibility
so that you know what's coming; then, have your tanks attract and
absorb the aggro so that your squishy party members are free to cast
spells and fire projectiles from the back row. Veterans know the drill but newbies or rusty players may appreciate the pro-tips given out in PartsII, III & IV of my in-depth retrospective; specifically, the sections on Archery, Arcane Spells, Divine Spells and Tanking & Melee Combat.

Remember also to regularly tap the Tab key to highlight "interactable" objects on the playing field such as doors, containers, NPCs and items on the ground. You could also toggle on the Reveal Details button located beneath the portrait panel - content is EZ to miss, otherwise.

I recommend you turn on Auto-pause: On Enemy Sighted. It can be a lifesaver if you're a bit slow to hit the spacebar.

If you play on difficulty levels higher than Core (i.e, Hard & Insane), consider turning on the No Difficulty-based damage increase option. That way you still get the larger mobs but they will all play by the rules.

Ready to rumble? Ok, exit the entry chamber and head north a bit to encounter Porios, an enemy wizard who teleports to the other side of a chasm to mistakenly reveal to the party that a sword is already gone. Undoubtedly
he refers to Sarevok's Sword of Chaos, a wield you will not actually recover until the Prologue of Shadows of Amn. No matter how you respond he retreats to safety, unreachable for the moment.

Ammon

Make your way east to the burial chamber and speak with Ammon,
an independent wizard who is not allied with Korlasz. Instead, she is simply
attempting to conduct an alchemical experiment and requests you find her
some Cobalt Moss (Quest: Tome of Great Value). We'll keep an eye out for some. Yes, you may slay Ammon now if you like but I don't recommend it! In fact, that goes for any Interlude NPC that offers to give you a quest.Ammon: +350 Exp, Identify scroll, Dart of Wounding (20), Dart +1 (40), Wand of Monster Summoning (2 charges).

The Orders from Korlasz are found in a broken strongbox: a revealing missive from Korlasz to Porios.Loot: Gem Bag, 147 GP, bottle of wine, elixir of health, scroll of Identify and Protection From Cold, History of the North I.Note: I won't be listing trivial loot from Part II onward. On-rest spawn: Skeleton x6 (+65 Exp ea). Respawn mobs differ slightly depending on the section you're in.

Head north through the door, disturb the sarcophagus and slay the undead that spawns from it.

Tattered Skeleton: +400 Exp.

Take the bridge to the other side of the chasm and slay the motley crew of aggro guarding the entrance to Porios' chamber. I like how a colony of bats flit their way over the bridge as you cross it; a nice touch!

The
door to the south is barred from the other side and cannot be opened at
this point.

Fanegonorom

Use the Tomb Key to unlock the door in the north that leads to Fanegonorom's Resting Place.
Disturb the sarcophagus to spawn Fanegonorom, a non-hostile mummy. You
can either destroy him outright or accept his request to remove Korlasz
from the House of the Dead (Quest: The Mummy's Orders).

Fanegonorom (+5,000 Exp), Skeleton Archer (+250 Exp ea).

Sarcophagus: Emerald, Pearl Necklace, 221 GP.

Take the stairs down to the catacombs.

The Catacombs

(AR BD 0130)

I can't wait to be d-done with all this. The constant d-d-danger has st-started to wear on me. - Khalid.

Note: There are proximity traps and trapped containers in this area that
result in minor experience point boosts when disabled by a thief. You do have a thief, right?

Head south to a circular chamber packed full of undead and headed up by a Shadowed Soul, a specter that drains life from your party and heals its allies.

Enter the nearby Library and loot the Crusader Pamphlet from the desk, an advertisement for Caelar's crusade.Loot: Freedom of Movement and Protection From Poison scrolls, History of the Dragon Coast, History of Tethyr.

Take
the southern passage and cross a stone bridge to find an assortment of
cadaverous undead standing around a sarcophagus. Be careful they don't
immobilize you - Free Action
status is your friend.

Head
south along the corridor and you may notice murky liquid swirling
within globes that are hanging to the sides. Shatter one to spawn twoslimes (i.e, click on a
globe twice).Ochre Jelly x2 (+270 Exp ea).

You will arrive in a chamber haunted by ability-draining spectral undead, including a wraith that inflicts on-hit cold.

See
the colorfully lit torches on the eastern wall: yellow, red and purple
on one side, but only red and yellow on the other? Hit the Tab key to highlight a bracket on the floor containing a Burnt-out Torch (x=2200, y=2490). Take the torch north to the
room where you fought the cadaverous undead and light it with the
purple brazier (i.e, click on the brazier). Now, take the purple torch
back to its origin and place it back into the bracket to reveal and open a
secret door leading to a hidden chamber (+1,500 Exp).

.
In this chamber you will find a Page of Sarevok's Notes on the table (Quest: Sarevok's Secret). The journal entry simply says "I should watch for an old temple of Bhaal on my travels". We'll definitely do that..

Cross the bridge to the east and a Restless Spirit will request you retrieve a staff (Quest: Shattered Staff). We need to find the headpiece in addition to the Wooden Staff found earlier.

Corpse: Potion of Clarity, Potion of Defense, 112 GP.

Restless Spirit (+3,000 Exp), Bonebat x3 (+975 Exp ea).

Return
to the chamber with the rope and head west to interrupt two mercs
havin' a chit-chat. You can let them go for +400 Exp or slay them on the
spot and loot their corpses for minor treasures.

Mercenary x2 (+400 Exp ea).

Another Crusader Pamphlet may be found on the desk.

Manipulate the strange machine to open the gigantic door leading to Korlasz's sanctum.

Korlasz Showdown

So
here she is, the wizard we've been trying to track down! A fight is
inevitable no matter how you respond, but once Korlasz takes enough damage she will surrender; at
which point you may accept or decline her offer. If you accept she and
her lackeys will drop their loot and walk out of the sanctum to hand themselves in to the Flaming Fist, waiting just outside. You will also receive
experience points for every enemy unit that would have otherwise been slain in the
battle (and get to slay her in Chapter Seven, too!) Prioritize Korlasz if you choose to go with the violent
solution, as arcane spell-casters are not to be trifled with.

Take
your leave of Korlasz's sanctum and Imoen will request you meet her in the crypt's entry chamber.(Completed Quest: Important Events - Find Korlasz and deal with her, +5,000 quest experience points for each party
member).

But first, head back to the Restless Spirit and disperse it by placing the Wooden Staff and Ornate Headpiece into its sarcophagus (Completed Quest: Shattered Staff, +3,000 Exp).

Reward: Waterstar Gem x10, Shandar Gem x8, Water Opal x5.

House of the Dead Revisited

Climb the rope back up to the House of the Dead
and you will arrive in the chamber that was previously barred to you.
Disturb the cracked sarcophagus, slay the skelly that spawns
from it and then loot the sarcophagus for the Cobalt Moss.

Tattered Skeleton: +400 Exp.

Slay the undead that spawn when you attempt to loot the adjacent sarcophagus.

Unsleeping Guardian (+4,000 Exp), Angry Spirit x5 (+420 Exp).

Loot: Protection From Poison scroll, Potion of Fire Resistance.

Capping off Two Sidequests

Now that you have dealt with Korlasz, return to Fanegonorom and the mummy will reward you with one its prized possessions: Shield of Egons +2(AC +3, Turn Undead Level +2 for Priests of Lathander and Undead Hunters; +1 for everyone else). The mummy will disperse and you may safely loot its sarcophagus for gems, jewels and gold.

Sarcophagus: Emerald, Pearl Necklace, 221 GP.(Completed Quest: The Mummy's Orders, +3,000 Exp.).
Lastly, deliver the Cobalt Moss to Ammon and she will concoct her potion. She will explain her plan to apply its contents to a Netherese tome in order to reveal secret writings on its pages. However, the tome is hidden in the Candlekeep Library and you may recall their draconian entry conditions; so, sign a letter of endorsement to increase her chance of admittance, and she will prepare to leave for the citadel.

The Korlasz family tomb has been cleansed of undead and other unsavory types, including Korlasz herself. We're
finally done with the Siege of Dragonspear starter dungeon. Return to Imoen in the entry chamber and take
your leave of the House of the Dead!

Well, so far so good! The scripting is solid and the combat encounters show great promise despite them being (necessarily) benign in this introductory segment.I suspect all aspects of the campaign will improve as it progresses, so I'm certainly not writing Siege of Dragonspear off at this early stage. In fact, I'm looking forward to seeing how things pick up, and to what extent!

35 comments:

There's a way to complete Tome of Great Value without the Cobalt Moss, not sure if it's an intel check or a spellcaster check, possibly both. When I rolled a Dragon Disciple I had a chat option to use a substitute

When I go through this part, I like to buy out the Flaming Fist Healer shop with scrolls and potions since I know I will lose all the gold anyway. If you like to, you may use my tip in your walkthrough.

Hi, I would like to ask you if I could translate any of your walkthrough to czech and use it one my web? Ofcourse I would show you in credits and would write that it is translation of your walkthroug and add link to your original web.

I ask you because I would be no competition of yours, because it would be only for czech none english speaking comunity and there would be added all your merits.

Why would I give you permission to reproduce my work in translated form when it will deny me Czech Republic readers, some of whom seem to have enough proficiency in English to read the walkthrough, or just use Google Translate?

If you want to write a walkthrough for Czech-speakers then you will need to write your own in Czech.

You can get Porios to surrender. With my 18 charisma F/M/T I could talk him out of a fight. You get all of the EXP and they drop all the loot this way too so unless you want to fight, there is no good reason.

The same F/M/T (17 intelligence) could also bypass the Cobalt moss quest as anonymous said up there.

And I have a trick, if that is of interrest. When you return to Fanegonorom after killing Korlasz, immediately after talking to him, loot his sarcophagus quickly. If you do it before he has vanished, he will turn hostile and you get the EXP both for his quest and defeating him./JE

I've only recently discovered Baldur's Gate, having just finished BG1. My background is with PnP AD&D dating back more than 30yrs. I completely missed the conversion to PC, because I've avoided PC games - I knew they'd suck me into a time vortex.Thanks for the walk through.Saves me time, while I relive my childhood and enjoy the immersion back into a world I've not experienced for some time.

Are the core rules recommended? The normal rules would appear to make the game play a bit soft when forewarned with the guidance given here.

Core rules is just the level of difficulty that I have always played Infinity Engine RPGs on. I know many people who prefer lower difficulties, and some that prefer higher ones. But all commentary on battles on my blog are based on Core Rules for the IE RPGs (or the equivalent D&D "Hardcore" rules for NWN).

Ouch ... watch the back of the fire beetle cave (where you pick up the wooden staff). Don't know what I did but I got jumped on by a bunch of lava mephits spitting what you'd expect - (yeah that's right) lava. I was looking for what's stashed in the back wall. Not sure how to get to it. Seems to be hiding behind a lava floe and I didn't want to get my toes toasted.

Hi Lilura! Just wanted to congratulate you on your epic work and efforts on behalf of the "old-school CRPG" community at large. Folks like me really appreciate it!

I have a question though. Back when BGEE came out a buddy of mine and I played through it from start to finish, but decided to hold off on going any further (i.e. starting BG2EE) until SoD came out so that we could continue from there. Although SoD has been out for a while now, other time commitments (i.e. having a baby in Oct!) have prevented us from starting up again until now. Here's my question: I'm a modding fanatic, and I'm wondering if there are any mods for both SoD and BG2EE that you would highly recommend for our campaigns. We like challenging combat and I've played with mods like SCS in the past, but I have no idea what's the best and most-modern mods and/or iterations of mods that one should use these days. If you could advise us, it would be much appreciated!

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